Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez was once again well under the weight limit for the division he continues to rule.
The RING, WBC, WBA and WBO super middleweight champion was a ripped 166.8 pounds, while challenger Edgar Berlanga was 167.6 pounds. Their Premier Boxing Champion on Prime Video Pay-Per-View headliner takes place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. PPV.com and DAZN will also air the a la carte event, beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.
Guadalajara’s Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 knockouts) was the same exact weight for his last fight at this very venue. The long-reigning super middleweight king outpointed Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia (43-1, 34 KOs) on May at T-Mobile.
It marked his seventh defense of The Ring crown and fourth as undisputed champion. His fully unified reign became one belt lighter when he was forced to vacate the IBF title earlier this summer. Alvarez was mandated to face IBF No. 1 contender William Scull (22-0, 9 KOs).
He instead chose the man who will share the ring with him on Saturday night.
Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs), The Ring’s No. 7-rated super middleweight, enter his first career title fight.
The unbeaten 6’1″ Nuyorican from Brooklyn has now weighed roughly the same for five straight fights. He earned this opportunity after a sixth-round knockout of undefeated Padraig McCrory in their Feb. 24 WBA title eliminator.
A clear path to Alvarez was made when David Morrell (11-0, 9 KOs) abandoned his WBA ‘Regular’ title reign and moved up to light heavyweight.
The knockout win over McCrory (18-1. 9 KOs) was Berlanga’s first since Dec. 2020. He scored sixteen consecutive first-round stoppages before he was forced to go the distance in five straight starts.
